The Simple Lives We Live
Some of the most extraordinary stories don't come from celebrities or history books. They come from everyday people - your neighbor, your grandmother, the man who runs the corner store, or the woman sitting next to you at church.
On The Simple Lives We Live, we sit down with ordinary people to uncover the beautiful, hard, faithful, and fleeting moments that shaped their lives. Stories of love and loss. Of grit and grace. Of family, faith, and the simple days we didn't know we'd one day miss.
So please join me each week as we capture voices and memories that deserve to be heard and remembered. Because the truth is, ordinary people live the most extraordinary lives.
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The Simple Lives We Live
Someday You'll Laugh About This | Joanne Tescher
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In Joanne Tescher's hometown, the whistle ran the day: 7 a.m., noon, 6 p.m., and the 10 o'clock curfew. Joanne takes us back to small-town life, when everybody knew your business and your folks always knew where you were. And her wedding day? Let's just say it's the kind of story you only laugh about years later. If you loved Troy's and Buster's episodes, don't miss this one.
Welcome to The Simple Lives We Live, where we open the old family photo albums and dust off the stories that made us who we are. I'm your host, Kylie Simiano, and each week I sit down with everyday people to capture their extraordinary life experiences, the moments of love, loss, laughter, and resilience that echo through time. These are the stories that remind us of our roots, connect us to generations past, and show us that the simple lives we live are anything but ordinary. So settle in and let's listen back together.
SPEAKER_02Welcome back to the podcast, everybody. Today's quote is by Fulton Sheen, and it is nothing creates happiness more than giving happiness to others. So today, my guest is the lovely Joanne Tesher. I'm super excited. So thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. So we already heard from your husband Troy, and now we get to have your life story and also kind of some of the memories of your wedding that he gave us little snippets. Yep. It was interesting. You can elaborate on that more as we go. So um, first off, I want to ask you though, as I ask everybody, how old are you? Um, like when were you born?
SPEAKER_00I was born in 1965, March 31st. So I am 60. I will be 61 next week. Next Tuesday. Yes. Yep. Where were you born? I was born in Glendive.
SPEAKER_02Born in Glendive, yes. Did you always live in Montana first? No, remind me.
SPEAKER_00Um, my mom and dad were both raised in Weibo. Okay. Um, and then in about 1960, they moved to Beach. And so I was raised in Beach. I've always lived in Beach. Always lived in Beach. Okay.
SPEAKER_02So, and I know we heard from Buster because Buster is Joanne's older brother, oldest brother.
SPEAKER_03He is the oldest.
SPEAKER_02Um so if people want a little bit more uh information on your family, they can always go and listen to his too. But I always think it's interesting because you can interview two siblings and they have two totally different upbringings in a sense. Exactly. Yep. Um, so I want you to sh tell us like who your siblings are and order them. You know, like oldest and youngest.
SPEAKER_00So Buster is the oldest, and then there's Jack and Cheryl and Dennis and Karen and David, and then myself, and I have a twin sister, Joyce. Okay. Yep.
SPEAKER_02So you guys are the youngest. We are, yes. Okay. And now did you grow up farm in town? Remind me. In town. It was in town. So you weren't on a farm or anything.
SPEAKER_00No, my dad farmed, but we grew up in town.
SPEAKER_02Grew up in town.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_02I want you to tell me what your parents were like as a child.
SPEAKER_00Um, so my mom was, oh, the sweetest lady. Just super sweet, super kind. Um, and my dad was very hardworking. Um, it's interesting because he was stubborn. He was German, he was stubborn. Um, he had a very kind side as well. Growing up, you know, all of our fathers just worked, they worked hard, so we didn't get a chance to spend a lot of time with our dads. Uh, he um, when I was growing up, when I was little, he worked at Farmers Union. Oh, okay. Yep, and then he went to driving crude oil truck for Getty and Texaco and finished out a career with Texaco as a gager, and then retired from that. Um, growing up, my mom was pretty much a stay-at-home mom. And then as I got older, she did do cleaning, like she cleaned up the schools and the banks and people's homes and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02Any specific memories that you want to share about them?
SPEAKER_00About my parents? Yeah. I always tell Buster, because like I said, my mom was just the kindest, sweetest lady. And um, so I often wish I had more of my mom in me. That the little sweetness stuff, because I find I have way more of my dad's stubbornness than I do my mom. Um, you know, we just as a family, so my older brothers and sisters, Buster's 16 years older. Okay, and so they were 16, 14, 12, and 10 when Joyce and I were born. So we kind of had two families. There's like the older kids, and then Karen is five years older, Dave is four years older, so and then the younger kids. And so it's interesting to visit with my older brothers and sisters about you know what life was like when they were being raised versus what we were being raised. Yeah. Um, so it's, you know, we, you know, you did a lot of things at a as a family, but I was only two when Buster graduated from high school. So, you know, we were pretty young when the older ones were graduating, um, you know, moving on.
SPEAKER_02And probably not a lot of memories of them living in the house then.
SPEAKER_00No, there wasn't a lot. Nope. And you know, it was one of those things where when I got to be an adult, of course, is then when I got to know um, you know, Buster Jack and Cheryl more because I was just so young when they moved away. Um, Dennis, when I was because he graduated from high school in 1975, so I would have been 10. And he moved home and then lived at home for about five years. So we got to spend a lot of time with him and you know, get to know him when he was living at home at that point.
SPEAKER_02What do you remember doing um for fun as a kid?
SPEAKER_00We spent all summer at this at the swimming pool. And all winter we spent at the ice skating rink. So we did all the ice skating ring. We did. Yes, we were down there a lot. They had the warming house open. Um, usually like Jim Hardy or somebody was kind of staffing it. And so yeah, summertime it seemed like we always swam. Winter it was ice skating. Um, I played a lot of softball growing up, probably from the time I was seventh, eighth grade, ninth grade, tenth grade, we'd had a team and I would um play catch. There was a couple of friends that we'd get together at the park down here and play catch and play softball a lot.
SPEAKER_02Softball was bigger back then.
SPEAKER_00A lot, a lot bigger.
SPEAKER_02Even adult women, there was a league in town.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And there was a men's league. There was um uh pretty big men's league too, and so it was big back in the multiple teams.
SPEAKER_02Yes, you could play um within beach, you could play against other people, and I think too, wasn't there weebo?
SPEAKER_00Weebow, Galva, um, Setnubutamadora had like especially men's teams, and I know um as a probably seventh, eighth grade, ninth grade, we would play teams from Weibo, other teams from Beach. Yeah, it was big. There was a lot of softball teams going on.
SPEAKER_02Do you remember? Did you guys do a lot of sledding too in the winter? Did they close off that road? There was like a hill in town that there was one growing up.
SPEAKER_00Yes, one over by Janet Cohan's house. Um, I don't remember doing a lot of sledding. Um, I know that they had that open. It's interesting, I think, about like when I grew up, I grew up on the north side of town, and you couldn't venture very far from home. That was kind of one of my mom's rules. So we pretty much stayed within a couple block area over there.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yep. What kind of chores did you have growing up?
SPEAKER_00My job, my sister Joyce, my twin sister, she helped my dad a lot on the farm. And so I usually stayed in town. My job was to like mow the lawn and you know, kind of help around the house and do that type of thing. Um, by the time I was a seventh grader, I was babysitting, had a paper out, and you know, seemed to just paper out? Yeah. Yeah. My brother Dave delivered the Bismarck Tribune. And so when he was busy or he was, you know, football or whatever, I would deliver the paper for him. And when I was a seventh grader and an eighth grader, then I had the Bismarck Tribune paper out.
SPEAKER_02So what time did you have to get up in the morning?
SPEAKER_00At one point, I'm thinking when I was a seventh, eighth grader, it you actually delivered after school. Oh, because it's no, it wasn't in the morning. Yep, they changed that later to like that morning paper because I would um like say during I played basketball at the seventh and eighth grader. Uh, I would deliver after basketball practice then. The you know the people were good about that, so it was pretty much an afternoon route at that point.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Uh, did you have any favorite subjects or teachers in school?
SPEAKER_00Yes, I gotta think about this. I have really good teachers. Um it was interesting. So when I was in first grade, we actually had two first grades. I think probably between 35 and 40 kids in my class. And so, first grade and second grade they did split us up. Um, Mrs. Nelson was my first grade teacher. Uh, Miss Carr was my second grade teacher, and she was Joni Smith. She married Terry Smith then. She taught for two years, then she married Terry Smith. She was, I think, all of our favorites. She was the sweetest thing. And Joni, of course, went on to be the story hour lady at the library and did that for probably 30 years. And so she touched so many people's lives. She was just such a sweet, sweet lady. Um, of course, I had Mrs. Cannenberg. A lot of people had Mrs. Cannenberg. I think all of my kids had Mrs. Cannenberg. She was wonderful, Mrs. Kohain. Yeah. And I don't know if Jordan had Mrs. Cohen, but I do know that Jessica and Christopher did.
unknownYeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Judy Reidenhauer was my fifth grade teacher.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_00Mrs. Kittelson was my sixth grade. Yes.
SPEAKER_02God, I didn't know. I think she was down by the time I was there, but I do remember my brother Josh having. Okay.
SPEAKER_00So Mrs. Kittleson.
SPEAKER_02Somewhere in there. She was.
SPEAKER_00And then at that point, when I was still in junior high, junior high was still at the grade school. Yep. They didn't move junior high to the high school until I think I was about a junior in high school. It hasn't always been at the high school.
SPEAKER_04I never knew that. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So on the end where the art fourth, fifth, and sixth is now, the that was the um, I gotta think about this. I'm at fifth, sixth. And then some of the computer rooms that they have now, because we didn't have all the computers and stuff like that. We didn't have to have a computer room. So those rooms were like science and social studies. Yeah. And then um where the art room is now, I believe, was math. And then the one right to the west of that was like our social studies or English or something.
SPEAKER_02But um interesting. You forget that classrooms that have computers did not exist in the world.
SPEAKER_00No, no, you know, because you didn't have the computers, so I don't know how when I think about having like 35 kids in a classroom, say like for our you know, fourth, fifth, sixth grade, I don't know how you put all those desks in a room either back then, you know, where we have 20 and things are so full, but they did it.
SPEAKER_02So did you guys have um when you were in school, we had some classes. I'm just thinking of one in particular where I I was a year below Jared, and we had Mrs. Jernberg was our teacher, but she had say fifth, sixth together. Yes. So half of fifth, half was sixth, but she was the one teacher. So you're all in the same classroom. Did you guys have we didn't have that?
SPEAKER_00When like that's different now. Yes, when Jessica and Krista were younger, they did have some combined classes where they combined like third grade, fourth grade, or fifth and sixth. Um, I don't remember that when I was growing up. It seemed to me we just it was all you know just our grade. Yes.
SPEAKER_02It seems weird because we would have had enough students to have a full fifth or a full sixth.
SPEAKER_00So I don't know why they I don't know what the reasoning was behind that either. I do remember them having it, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_02What were Christmases like growing up?
SPEAKER_00They were a lot of fun because we had, you know, a lot of a lot of people at our house. Um by the time I got to be, I think I was a third grader when my sister Cheryl got married. And so, you know, we would it was kind of the introduction of you know brother-in-laws, and then I was 12 when my oldest nephew was born. So it was fun because I was young when you know when they were born. There was um Mark was born in May, and then I think Philip was born that following January.
SPEAKER_02So we always had there was always a lot of you know, a lot of kids, a lot of people, and then the little siblings probably loved having you because you can help with the little ones while they can have a conversation sometimes, right?
SPEAKER_00I always one of the things about Christmas that I remember is we would get to like Christmas Eve and there would be like few presents under the tree, and you're like, this isn't enough, or you know, I'm sure this is the year my mom forgot me because there's so many of us that you know, and so all of us would go to church except for my mom, and when we would come home, there was just a load of presents underneath the tree. So either she had wrapped them and hidden them so we wouldn't get into them, sure, or she rapped like crazy before you know while we were at church. But uh, she always it was my mom was um she tried, she was super fair with all of us, you know, considering there were so many kids, and so we each probably had two presents. Um, very thoughtful. She would go to Dickinson, she'd leave early in the morning, and she would literally spend a whole day in Dickinson shopping for everybody and then come home. But she always had the most thoughtful presents because she really thought about what you know we all wanted or needed or whatever, and put a lot of thought into that for us.
SPEAKER_02It's interesting too, because I know Buster was saying, you know, there wasn't a lot of money. No, there wasn't a lot of money. So to have a thoughtful gift and maybe like you were saying, things that you wanted or things that you needed. Yes, but that's how it was back then. It wasn't many. Yep. Did you get um stockings, or did you also get stockings in?
SPEAKER_00Because stockings weren't a big thing in my family. I don't remember a lot of stockings. Um, I do remember getting like Santa presents until we probably were eighth graders, which was we were probably a little old for that, but she enjoyed doing it. Um and so with Joyce and I being the youngest, you know, we probably got things longer than the rest of them, I think. One time I did ask Cheryl, you know, do you think that Joyce and I were more spoiled than the rest of us? And she's like, Mom and dad didn't have anything to spoil any of us with. So no. But you know, it was different, it was very different being raised as the younger four than the older four. Um, I'm super blessed. I have the best brothers and sisters, excuse me, in the world. Um, not a lot of people can say that. And I'm super fortunate. So, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I think too, what a gift your parents gave you with this.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Oh, yes. Yep. Yeah. Excuse me. Sorry. You're gonna make me cry.
SPEAKER_02Um I think that's a huge, a huge reason why I do the podcast. Yeah. That we can remember the things that are important. Right. Because nobody's remembering a lot of times these big massive gifts, the big houses they were nobody grew up in a new house.
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_02But the one thing that a lot of people, so many have, are the memories of their siblings, their families, how their parents really love them, even if they couldn't be around them all the time, right? They were busy, they you know, but they um just that sense of family, they really did all come together to help clean or do what the family needed. And I feel like that is so important, and I think that we've lost a lot of that. I agree. Because when you look and you you're saying like how emotional you get, just thinking of how blessed you've been with all of your siblings. Yes, yeah. That's a huge gift that your parents gave us.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they did, they really did.
SPEAKER_02That lasted a long time. So um any special traditions with Christmas?
SPEAKER_00Really? No, not uh decorations these guys always have. Um my mom did have a nativity set that she had had for years. And I think I know after mom passed away, we had kind of gone through, you know, decorations or different things. And I think my either my sister or else Krista got that nativity, so it's still, you know, I remember her always putting that up. My sister Cheryl had done some ceramics for my mom, and I always remember those being put out. Um my brother Dave, he had the worst allergies, and he was allergic to like everything, but he was allergic to Christmas trees. So we probably had one of the first artificial Christmas trees in the world, and it was not very pretty. It was not, and it was plastic, and our lights melted to it like every year. So, you know, I think back on those type of things, and it's just you know, yeah, that poor tree. But um, so you go through and take stuff off and you're peeling, you know, the big Christmas lights off the tree, and yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because the lights were different than the other. Oh, they were hot. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So um, I don't think we really had a lot of like traditions, you know, as much as I my mom just, I guess we did we just didn't do that, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02Was it only your family that you did Christmas Eve with, or was it there a bunch of cousins that would call it?
SPEAKER_00Usually it was just us. Um I I I do remember going to my grandma's one, like Christmas Eve. Um, she lived in town, but there was she lived in a tiny little house, so you didn't do that very often either. I think when we were younger, we probably went to my aunt and uncle's houses for Christmas Eve. But once my brothers and sisters got older, started getting married and having their own families, there was just a lot of us the way it was that way. Too many people. So not just not to like you know, host us in somebody else's home. So yeah, we usually just did it.
SPEAKER_02You're talking about the eight eight kids, right?
SPEAKER_00Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_02Um so house housewise, how were the rooms?
SPEAKER_00Um when I think I'm just thinking when the house that I grew up in, there was there would have been four bedrooms, but so Buster and Jack would have already moved out by the time I was two and three, because Buster I was two when he graduated, I was three when Jack graduated from high school. Buster went to school, and but there was so like in the basement, there was kind of a big bedroom, and Buster and Jack had that bedroom, and then there was another bedroom which was Dennis and Dave's, and then the girls had a really big bedroom, one big room. But then, you know, I was by the time I was five, Cheryl was away at college and stuff too, so there would just have been Kieran and Joyce and I there.
SPEAKER_02So your parents didn't keep those rooms for them when they came back.
SPEAKER_00They did not, yeah. Well, and then actually, so when I was a fourth grader, my mom remodeled the house. And my mom loved to draw house plans, and she would draw and draw and draw, and she uh there's one room or one wall in that house that's in the same spot, and the only reason is it's the weight-bearing wall, and she couldn't move it. Otherwise, she moved every wall, every room, and added on to the house, and so at then she added on three bedrooms and like a family room.
SPEAKER_03Now, who did the building? Um did your dad do it?
SPEAKER_00No, um, Francis Efta from Weibo did. He was a contractor out of Weibo, so he came and that one summer uh we lived literally in my mom and dad's bedroom, and as they tore things out and remodeled and added on a split level area and stuff. So yeah, yeah.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_02And it all turned out from her plans.
SPEAKER_00It did, it really did, yeah. The in fact, well, the house um was for sale earlier this year, and so Karen and I had gone and looked because it's been Jeff Stockwell lived in that one for a little while. It's just north of um Farmers Union over here. And so um it was fun to go back and just go through the house and and see it again. Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02How about birthdays? Were birthdays a big thing?
SPEAKER_00They birthdays were a big thing. My mom would do a lot of special things to um just make your birthday special. She she was a great cook and a great baker, and so she maked, you know, baked our cakes. Um when I was young, she took a cake decorating class. And so she would decorate our cakes, and um we would sit and eat the frosting as she decorated. And I remember she did like a carousel cake, uh cakes that looked like books. Uh yeah, she was very talented and she did a lot that way. But the one, and I don't even know how old I was, one of the birthdays we had as a birthday party, and in my little neighborhood, there was a lot of kids the same age as myself and Joyce. And so we'd have these parties, and mom would have different games for us. And one of them, well, we used to always do scavenger hunts. I don't think they do those anymore. You would get a list of things that you were supposed to go at that point. You could go ask the neighbors, you know, for a can of corn or you know, a paper clip or something. So you would have your list, and you probably have a team of two, and you would run around the neighborhood and ask for these things, and they would give them to you, and whoever got all the items first and got back to the house was the winner.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00So we would do, yeah, we do scavenger hunts. And then um, one thing mom had done was um she had taken it was a uh clothespin and she had yarn on it, and she made kind of a maze type thing, like in the living room. And so we each had our um clothespin, and you followed the yarn all over the house, and at the end was a prize. Yeah, she would. So she came up with lots. She did. My mom really made sure that this was birthday before Pinterest. It was before Pinterest, yes. Yes, so you've got to give her a lot of kudos because she had some great ideas, but she yeah, she made her birthdays very special.
SPEAKER_02As far as birthday gifts, did you guys get much for gifts for your birthdays? Do you remember or just the experience of having friends over and some of those things?
SPEAKER_00You know, I don't remember any like specific gifts that we got. Um I know we got gifts, but I don't I think probably it seemed like more the memories from the birthday parties stuck out more than what we got for presents.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Which is great. That's right. Yeah, yep. Yep.
SPEAKER_02Um okay, summers, you said you did a lot of swimming.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Did you did you take swimming lessons? Oh yeah, we took all the you know, all the lessons I did them up to like junior life saving. Okay. Um, and then with like help, you know, at the pool, help during lessons and stuff. But we took lessons every every summer.
SPEAKER_02Lots of bike riding. Lots of bike riding.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, yep, back and forth. And you know, and that was the thing too, is we, you know, you rode your bike, did a lot of walking. Um, and I was lucky to have a lot of kids in my neighborhood, so we even just played in our neighborhood. Yeah, it would be some softball or whether you're playing, you know, games outside or in the yard.
SPEAKER_02Nobody was inside. I mean, there was no at least when I was growing up, there were not shows on during the day that you would ever watch, anyways. You know, it was soap operas.
SPEAKER_00Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_02So there was no reason for a kid to be inside. No, you just went outside and you were bored, you got up, took your bike with all your friends or whatever.
SPEAKER_00You know, and I don't know. I visiting with people that probably grew up the same time I did, we always had the whistles in town. So at seven o'clock in the morning, the whistle blew, and that was like the the get-up whistle, and it blew at noon, so you knew what time to go home for lunch, and then it blew at six o'clock, and usually then it was like time for supper, and then it blew at 10 o'clock, which was like the curfew whistle. And so a lot of our life really revolved around that whistle. You would, you know, you'd hear it in the morning, you'd get up and go, and you know, same, you probably got up, ate some breakfast, and out the door you went, and everybody kind of watched out for everybody's kids. So you kind of knew, you know, if you got in trouble or you did something you shouldn't have, your mom knew before you got back home because whoever saw it or caught you. Yeah. Yep. So you kind of you took a village, everybody raised everybody's kids, and and you were out playing and you know, maybe home for lunch for a little bit, and away you went. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02And you two having the uh your twin, did you guys do that a lot of that stuff together?
SPEAKER_00We did some. Um, Joyce and I have very different personalities. It's kind of interesting to, you know, when you Joyce, so we're not identical. Joyce is blonde and blue-eyed, and have we've like when we were born, one of mom's uncles said, Well, how do you tell them apart? Mom said, Well, one is dark and one is blonde. You know, because we I mean, we were we never looked alike. It was just um, you know, just we just didn't. And so um, we just have different personalities as well. Um, we did do a lot of stuff together, and then um well, my sister Joyce was fifth and sixth grade, she had it was called hip perthies. Okay, and so she was on crutches for a year and a half, and that really, you know, of course, impacted her life because there's a lot of things she couldn't do. Yeah, so um interesting, yeah, and even as she grew older, um, just because of the way when that healed, you know, it was during her growing years, so her hip didn't grow, and and um so that's clear, they did not know so many of the things that we have now that are so good that you can start so early and make everything just easier for people and for our kids, they didn't have back then, they didn't have the knowledge, yeah. So, yeah. So, like when I was playing softball, she of course didn't play softball because it just was not you know, physically she couldn't.
SPEAKER_02So but did you always end up having different groups of friends then? We did your different personalities.
SPEAKER_00We did, yeah. And in my class, like see with uh there was probably 20 girls in my class. So um, you know, there was you know quite a few kids and quite a few. I mean, you just had kind of different interests and stuff. So we did have a different friend group than each other. It is, yeah, it's okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_02When I had talked with Buster, he talked about your brother um Dennis. Yeah uh going to the Ann Carlson school. Was that before you guys?
SPEAKER_00So I he was um Dennis was 10 when Joyce and I were born. And I do remember taking him um back and forth to school. Uh, you know, usually Buster or dad would go pick him up. I do remember taking him down and dropping him off. So we, you know, um were raised with with Dennis, you know, and he would come home and spend summers. So we would, you know, help with Dennis, you know, all summer. He when I was oh, when I had my um paper route, he was home and living at home at that point, and he had a go-kart that he could get around town in. And so I would he would come with me on my paper routes and he would ride his go-kart around and you know, he'd help me out. Yeah, yep. So with Dennis, Dennis had cerebral palsy, so his limbs didn't work, but his mind was sharp. He was so he could tell you um sports stats from years and years and years and years. He loved the Miami Dolphins, uh, he loved the New York Yankees, loved sports, kept track of sports scores for years. I I above probably 10 years ago, he did that. And trivia, he knew lots of stuff. So he, you know, I mean, as far as like what he you know thought and did and doing schooling and stuff like that, he was very smart.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, so by the time then that you have memories of dropping him back off in school, had it become more of the norm or it wasn't maybe as right.
SPEAKER_00You know, it was um, and it I do remember like like leaving him, we would take him into like the gym, and mom saying, We're gonna drop him off. He's going to cry, but we have to go home. Yeah, and so you drop him off.
SPEAKER_02You know, I that is a story that has stuck with me so much. How hard it had to have been for every single person involved. You siblings, for Dennis, for your mom. Yeah, I I I I cry when I think about it. I know, I do too, even yet.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, my mom heart is just like I don't know how she did it. No, I had asked her that one time and she said, um, because I because you know, when he was five years old or six years old, she took him down there and left him for school. And I said to her one time, how did you do that? And she said, I had no other choice. And it just broke my heart. Yeah. I even break even now, get emotional, yeah. You do, because it just, you're like, oh my gosh, for years, you know, like she said, I had no other choice. I had to do it. He needed an education. Um, and Ann Carlson's school was phenomenal, and they were good with him, and he learned so many good things, you know, and he had friends, and he had, I mean, it was, you know, it was just, I guess, you know, for us, that was just the norm. That was we we didn't really notice or we didn't know that there was anything different because that was just the norm. Um, but I remember as an adult, after I had my children asking mom that. She was super strong. She was a super strong lady. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um anything else that you want to add about that?
SPEAKER_00Not that memories or um, not that I can think of. No.
SPEAKER_02What age did you start working? You know, you said you did some babysitting. Yeah, six, seven.
SPEAKER_00Um, I started working at the Dairy Queen when I was a freshman in high school.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00And uh Lynn Farsfeet at that point was our boss. She was phenomenal. Um for a first job, it was one of those things that's like she taught us to work, but we had a really good time doing it. And so that was when the Dairy Queen was over where like Nona's shop is. Yep. And so it wasn't a sit-down spot. You just, you know, food was all to go. So you would either go in and order and wait, or you would call in. And I did that um all through high school. Uh, when I was a senior in high school, because the dairy queen would shut down, I think probably like in October, and then probably open up again in like March or something.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_00And so when I was a senior, I worked at um Holton Supervalue over that time frame. Yep. And that was a fun job to have as well. And so I guess when I was a freshman in high school is when I started working, and yeah.
SPEAKER_02So you said you played basketball seventh and eighth grade. I did seventh and eighth grade. Yes. Yep. Um, and kind of always did softball in the summer. Right. Yep. Um, it was more organized, but it's not than it is now.
SPEAKER_00But it was not a school sport, it wasn't a school function. No.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00No. Um, how about any vacations growing up? We didn't do a lot of vacations. The one um vacation I do remember, I was about a fourth grader, I think, and mom and dad and Karen, Dave, and Joyce. I went down to um the Black Hills of South Dakota. And so we that was probably the only trip we really did. We went over teachers' conference weekend, I think it was, or convention weekend, and um, it was fun. You know, a lot of stuff wasn't open at that point, stuff wasn't open as long as it is now, but um it was fun. It was a good vacation.
SPEAKER_02I think it's interesting vacations. I was hearing something about um many people, I'm gonna probably say it wrong, but many people plan their vacations based on now what they see on social media.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02And so vacations are a big thing for a lot of people, but many of us grew up not taking necessarily a vacation every year. And when we did take a vacation, it was like South. It was very simple vacations, but right it I don't feel like I missed out.
SPEAKER_00Do you ever feel like you missed out on anything or not about extravagant vacations or I don't, you know, most of the people that we were probably friends with or even family, most of them didn't take huge vacations then. You know, it was kind of just it just wasn't, it wasn't something that was done. Um, I do like when we grew up, Cheryl and her husband lived uh at one point, like in Wapaton. They taught, he was going to school. I think my brother-in-law was, taught school if it's dark weather. And so there was a lot of times where we would maybe take a weekend and then you know go to visit. So that was, you know, kind of a vacation, probably a a shorter one. But they lived in Jamestown and we go down there and visit in Jamestown. And um, so sometimes it was just family things. It was fun, you know, it was going to see family. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Do you remember what your ambitions or dreams were when you were young?
SPEAKER_00Oof, that's a long time ago. Um boy, I really don't. I know I I knew I always wanted to be a mom. You know, I I babysat a lot of kids in the community when I was probably sixth, seventh, eighth grade, ninth grade. And yesterday I helped with the career thing at the high school, and it was fun to talk with the kids and and just talk about how most of us are not doing what we thought we would be doing when we were in high school, or even, you know, just like maybe right after high school. I had looked at going to school to be like a secretary or something like that. That there wasn't a huge um pool of like what you did once you graduated from high school when I, you know, graduated. It you know, you either went to be a teacher, you went to be a secretary, you went to be a nurse. Uh there just wasn't a lot, I guess. Um, a cosmetologist I had thought about as well.
SPEAKER_02So, you know, but yeah, there wasn't the options really that that we have now. And I feel like it does go in spurts anymore, too. Yes, of what people are kind of branching out to. Yes, I agree. Yep. Yep. Um, who in your life influenced you the most while growing up, do you feel like?
SPEAKER_00I I don't know if there was any like one person. Um I think over the years things have kind of just changed. You know, you you always want to do your best for your parents or you know, for I guess yourself or your kids or whatever. Um I like my brothers and sisters, you know, as growing up, I've always looked up to them, you know, they've always kind of had my back. So you always want to do what's you know the best, you know, for them too. I don't know if there was anybody that like super influenced me, but just kind of family. You you want to do what's right, you want to do what's best for everybody, or but did you always think this is totally not even on my um list?
SPEAKER_02Did you always think or feel that you wanted to stay around the area and around family? Was that really important to you as you were growing up?
SPEAKER_00So I I got married super young, I was 18. Uh, and you know, we we ranched. So it wasn't a job that you could pick up and take someplace else. And I think you know that you know, I don't know, would we have moose someplace? Who knows? You know, it's it interesting. I do think that I was thinking about this this this morning. Beach is a really, you know, I loved growing up here as a kid. Um, I loved raising my kids here. I think we have a wonderful community, we have a great school system. Um, it's and you know, it's fun watching my kids, you know, it's interesting watching the girls, you know, they're out doing their thing. Um, it's fun having Jordan back, you know, being able to spend time with him as he is an adult. Um I I do, I think it's really, really a good place to live. I I don't know, I've always enjoyed living here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You know, you would get used to living someplace else, but oh yeah, you know, I and you know, I always tell people too there's pros and cons to every size of town. You know, there's politics in every town. Yes, yep, whatever. Yep. Um, but there's a lot of benefits in a small town. There is. There really is.
SPEAKER_00Yes, there is. I um beach has been it's been good to us. We've really enjoyed living here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh do you remember how you and Troy met?
SPEAKER_00We met at a social event. I think you call it a party.
SPEAKER_02And alcohol may have been involved, but I I find it funny that you that that's kind of like how you met. Beach was still small then.
SPEAKER_00It was. I didn't know Troy. He was two years older than me. Um, and I didn't know Troy when he was in high school. We didn't really travel in the same circles. Um, I was really good friends with one of his cousins, and so she did introduce us as well. So that uh Teresa um so that is, but we were yeah, literally at a a party. Yeah, and and it is funny because you would think, like you said, as small as beach is that you would know everybody, but you know, I was a freshman, he was a junior, and you know how it is when you're a freshman. Yes, just yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So and a lot of times juniors are thinking about freshmen. Oh, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, so that's not yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so then when because Troy was out of high school when we met. I was a junior in high school and he was had graduated the year before, so he was out of school.
SPEAKER_02Um, so you said you got married at 18. Yep. So did you go to college at all?
SPEAKER_00I did not. Okay. Um, I I did some classes after we were married, like through Glendive and stuff, but I didn't, you know, I didn't I don't have a degree.
SPEAKER_02What did you do after graduation then after you just got married that summer?
SPEAKER_00Yep, I got I um graduated in May and got married in September.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So was it more you helping out at the ranch or it was?
SPEAKER_00Yep, yeah. So once we, you know, Troy was already living at the ranch, and then I moved out there, and then we started having our family. So, you know, between raising kids and helping on the ranch, and yeah, and that's what can you tell me about your wedding day? So it was hot, it was like 90 degrees, end of September, super hot. And um we got married in Sentinel Butte at St. Michael's beautiful little church, and during our wedding, um we were on the kneelers up in the front of the church. Now, I I was not raised Catholic, so the kneeler thing was new to me. And when when you kneel for a very long time and it's a very hot, and you it's a wedding day, you're nervous, blah, blah, blah. Um, when you don't feel well, don't close your eyes because you will faint. So I fainted off the kneeler in the front of the church. Oh no. Yes. And I remember like trying to sit up, and Troy is looking at me like, what are you doing? And my brothers and sisters always tell me they had to like grab my mom because she about like vaulted the, you know, to get up there. And finally, my mom was like, somebody help her up. So I think it was one of the grooms that came up and was helping me up. And as he's helping me up, all you hear throughout the church is rip. And Troy was standing on my dress. And so it ripped. And after the wedding was over, and people were going through the line and they're shaking. And my oldest sister Cheryl comes and she says to me, Someday you will laugh about this. And she said, You looked at me like you have got to be kidding me. And we laugh about it all the time now. But yeah, it was it was interesting. And then, like Troy said, we got robbed on our honeymoon. So, you know. What are the chances? Exactly. What are the chances? Exactly.
SPEAKER_02Do you look back at that now? Yeah the robbery.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Do you do you laugh about that? We did it kind of like freak you out if something was in your room.
SPEAKER_00That it it does that. And I think because you know, it's just another one of those times change things. So we had just stayed at like the Super Aid in Bismarck, and at that point, they didn't even have like the chain locks on the door. And so what they you know surmised after whatever was that these people had come in, um, and like how the keys, you know, just kind of all hung on a wall. And the front desk people were usually down like in the office or whatever. And so they figured out they just kind of went in and grabbed a key. And then yes, you know, and and um we had found out that there was, I think, another robbery in Dickinson. And because when this had happened, we went down, we talked to the front desk, and they had made the comment that there were some people that had checked in and they kept changing, it was either their license number or something. Okay. And so they had like given us the name of those people. And of course, the police came and you know, we visited with them. Well, a couple days later there was a robbery in Dickinson. And so I was listening to the news or something, and the people's names that robbed the place in Dickinson were the ones that stayed at the hotel where we were. So, you know, pretty much think it probably was them, but you couldn't really prove they didn't take anything but money from us, so you couldn't really prove it.
SPEAKER_04Right, right.
SPEAKER_00Um, but the thing is they were using a claw hammer as a weapon. So luckily we didn't wake up because who knows what would have happened if we had and tried to confront them, you know. So yeah, it was it was interesting. That's just yeah, yeah. Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Um now you lost your mom at a young age.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_02How uh how old were you when she passed away?
SPEAKER_0023.
SPEAKER_0223, yeah. So not too long after you guys had gotten married.
SPEAKER_00No, yeah, we were married for five years.
SPEAKER_02Um, what was that like to lose your mom at such a young age?
SPEAKER_00It was terrible. Excuse me. Um, you know, it's excuse me. Losing a parent is super hard, and it it's and I know you know people would say it doesn't matter how old you are, and that's true, it really doesn't. But there is a big difference between losing your mom at 23 and then at 43. Um, you know, I just unfortunately did not have the time with her. Um but I the thing that I am the most thankful for is that she got to meet two of my children. She was the best grandma in the world. She loved her grandkids. And she she she adored them. It was probably the happiest. You know, she was. My mom was sick pretty much my whole growing up life. It's just unfortunately that's how it was. But I remember I would take the girls, we'd go visit, and a lot of times she was laying on the couch and they would grab books and they would snuggle up next to her and she would read books to them. You know, she she would, no matter how sick she was or how sick she felt, the grandkids came over and she her all of her time went to them. That was just very present, very yeah, like she so um, so you know, and like Jessica does remember her. She was four. Krista was only 16 months old, so she doesn't have the memories, but um, you know, it just she was such a good grandma. I know that was so I think too for me.
SPEAKER_02You losing her at that age is hard simply because that's the age that you're finally realizing the importance of your mom and how actually knowledgeable they are, and you're starting to really appreciate everything at that at that point. Oh, yes, yes, also to have a small portion of time in your life to really show her that appreciation in a sense, like not that you didn't, but you know, as teenagers, sometimes we think our moms don't know anything, and now you're like on the other side of that where you kind of start to deepen that relationship of like really being friends with your mom. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I was lucky too, is so like um not the first summer after I got married, I didn't work, but then the next summer I did, and I um my mom watched Jessica for a couple years, a couple of summers, or would help with her. And a lot of times when I would go to pick her up, Jessica or mom and I would just sit like on the porch and visit. And so I was very fortunate to have that time with her as well, just to sit and visit, you know, as adults, because like you said, you know, you're a teenager and your mother doesn't know pretty much anything at all, you know, good grief. And then the older you get, the smarter they get. And so I did have that time with her, and and very lucky that I had that.
SPEAKER_02Um what were the moments then throughout your life looking back? What moments did you really notice her absence? Were there a lot? I mean, I'm sure there's moments where you're like, if only my mom could be here.
SPEAKER_00Right. A lot of it I think is like as just as my kids aged, you know, doing the different things, you know, probably like going to kindergarten, graduation. Um, my my dad did remarry a year and a half after my mom died. So um, my and my mom's stepmother, my uh stepmother Vera was a very good person. And she she was also very good with the grandkids. So that was nice to have. So we did have, you know, that. Um, I here again, one of those things with having all these older brothers and sisters, um, and I also had some friends that were older than me that were probably closer to like not quite my mom's age, but that I've been fortunate to have over the years. Because some of those things that you like visit with your mom or the questions you ask are different things. When you don't have it, you don't know who to visit with or who to ask. I've always been very fortunate to have friends, you know, a friend group that you yeah, it is. It was I'm lucky, lucky with that.
SPEAKER_02You say that okay, so you said that your dad remarried a year and a half after your mom passed away. Yes. So how was that for you at your age, seeing your dad date and then remarry was that hard?
SPEAKER_00We um my dad was only 62 when my mom died, so he was young. And we were happy for him. We were happy that he had found somebody, we were happy that he, you know, had, and it was really interesting because talking like with my brothers and sisters, there was one point we're like, you know, if we ever dated, I think that you know, Vera would be a really good, you know, and and I think at that point they probably were dating. Dad was kind of not really out there with it. He was kind of, you know, like kept it to himself, very reserved. You know, dad was not a real demonstrative man or whatever, but um, you know, we were all super happy when they got married. It was you know, it was good for him not to be alone for all those years. We were, you know, the kids were all grown and gone.
SPEAKER_03So um is your dad still with us?
SPEAKER_00He is not, he passed away in 2012.
SPEAKER_032012, okay. How how did he pass away?
SPEAKER_00Just he was 86. He was the old age. Yep. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Which so then very different experience. Yes. He passed away.
SPEAKER_00And with my mom, yeah, yeah. You know, it's one of those things where you know, we you miss him terribly, but he'd gotten to that point where you know he couldn't get around. You know, he was in the nursing home a couple years before he passed away. That's not a way to live. You know, he he loved to farm and drive truck and drive tractor and be out and about, and so yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Now you guys have three kids, you and Troy. What's the best part about being a parent?
SPEAKER_00Oh boy, kind of all of it. You know, I watching like young parents, I know, like you and I were talking, and you're super busy. Um, and sometimes it just gets overwhelming, you know, when you're raising your kids, and and it's hard because you know, you're you're raising them and you're trying to keep them fed, keep them alive, you know, right? And and everything is just kind of overwhelming. And then you get to like the stage where we are, where we have the grandkids and stuff, and can you like really enjoy them? Um, it just seems like every stage that they went through, I'd be like, Oh, I love this one. And you get to the next stage, and like, oh, I really like this one. You know, I hope, you know, and then they grow to the next one and to the next one. And um, I don't know. There's so much great in every stage. There is so much great in every stage, and there's so much great in every kid, and every, you know, everybody's different and they have different interests and they do different things, and um, yeah, it just watching them figure themselves out and what they like and what they enjoy is pretty fun. It is fun, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Sometimes it surprises you, you know. Well, how about being a grandparent?
SPEAKER_00That's awesome too. Yeah, yeah. We're um so we have eight, we have seven granddaughters and one grandson. Um, and our oldest granddaughter is a sophomore in high school, and it's just so fun watching them as well because they're all so different and have such different interests and do different things, and it's they're just fun, they're so fun to watch. And and that I had always thought, I think probably because my mom was not well when I grew up, that I wanted to have my kids young because I really wanted to be able to enjoy them, you know, and and so we did. We you know, we can you know I can still do a lot of things with the grandkids and stuff too, so I'm very fortunate and lucky with that.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so you did not go to college, no, and you were helping out at the ranch. What other what other jobs have you had?
SPEAKER_00Um, from like 1985 to 1996, during the school year I was a stay-at-home mom. And then during the summertime I worked for the North Dakota Tourism Department, and I ran there was an information center that at that point was with uh Wayscale out on the interstate, yeah. And so I supervised that during the summers for about 12 years. Yeah, and then in 1996, the library job came open. Jordan was four, was going to like preschool. And so at that point, especially with uh um for the kids, so we were 11 miles from a bus. So no matter what I did, I drove 44 miles a day, getting the kids back and forth to the bus. So, you know, we get up, take them to the bus, they come in, and then you know, I pick them up, take them home. If they did any sports, then you know, a lot of times I would, you know, take them to the bus and go home, but then come back in and get them later. And it got to the point where, in order for them to be able to do anything or to do sports, we pretty much needed a place in town. So we rented for a while and bought a house in town. And the first year or so I babysat for people and stuff, and then once, yeah, this you know, the library job came open and I applied for that. And so it's been really nice to have a job so we could, you know, have the place in town and stuff too, so the kids could do the different sports and things.
SPEAKER_02And so, how long have you been the librarian?
SPEAKER_00It will be 30 years this year in August. Crazy. But you seem to have loved, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I pretty much every moment.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know, there's certain moments you're like, oh man, but I have it's been I've it's been a really good job. I I grew up using the library. Um, my mom did kind of part-time work at the library when it was across the street, and uh so I had you know done a lot of things with the library. It was a good fit, and I do enjoy it. It's um it's a good job. It's been a good job.
SPEAKER_02I think it's interesting to some of the I'm gonna call it a career. Yeah, because it really is. If you've been a librarian for 30 years, yeah. Um that women uh that I've interviewed have found themselves in, whether it's teaching or it could be being um a server, and they loved it once their kids were and they could go back to work, you know, and it was such an appreciation, or you know, whether it's parent or teacher or whatever. Um, and many did not go to college, or many did a year, and that was it, and they found something else around. And I just keep thinking talking to so many, there's a lot of things that we could do without having a four-year degree, which we're really pushed to have that four-year degree. Yep. But there's so many now that I have interviewed where you're like, wow, they just it was interesting yesterday when I helped with that career thing, because when I was, you know, graduating, a college degree was you know something you thought about.
SPEAKER_00A lot of us, you know, a lot of them went, um, but it wasn't something that you absolutely had to do to get a good job. You know, you you know, and so then it kind of changed over the years where you pretty much had to have some kind of a degree to get a good job. And it seems like it's kind of going back to that now where you know a college degree is wonderful. Um, it's but it's not a requirement. No, you know, and trade schools are awesome, you know, we need all of those different um people in those different professions to keep everything going, and but yeah, the the like my time frame, you know, it it just wasn't uh you know really a necessity or right, right.
SPEAKER_02Do you you have been married young and starting a family right away, pretty much, right?
SPEAKER_00Yep, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um do you ever you looking back, do you ever feel like you missed out?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. I really don't. I don't. I think, like I said, I loved having my kids when I was younger. Um, love being able to spend the time with them and to do the things with the kids that we've been able to do, and now doing the things with the grandkids that we're able to do. I, you know, both Troy and I really enjoy that. We, you know, we love being able to like take the kids on walks or you know, we've gone, you know, um camping and just on trips and stuff with the grandkids, and we always every summer, Jessica's her three oldest, we always have them down for a week, and it's nice to be able to spend that time with them. And so, and I think age-wise, we're very fortunate to be able to do that, so we're young enough to really enjoy it.
SPEAKER_02Yes, we do all the things that they want to do, yes, we change that, yeah. What's an important life lesson that you've learned?
SPEAKER_00Oof, boy, everything changes. It seems like the more you think it's gonna stay the same, it changes, and you just have to realize that not everything works out the way you think it's going to. Um, you know, some things, you know, and sometimes it seems like you think some people have it so easy, you know, but you know, we don't know. You know, it's you know, life makes us tough in some instances, and yet, you know, there's just so many good things. You know, just so many good things out there.
SPEAKER_02What's a memory from childhood that you didn't realize was important until later?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. That's a good question. I don't I really don't know. I um let's come back to that. I'll have to kind of do some thinking as we're doing this, but I'm like, I just don't really have like one thing. Okay, perfect.
SPEAKER_02So if you were to close your eyes, what is something that takes you back to your earlier years?
SPEAKER_00Okay, so my grandmother, my mom's mom, quilted and she made quilts for all of us. I and I'm assuming she made them for all of the grandkids on my mom's side. I can't say that for sure. But and the other thing she did was she made um, she sewed Barbie doll clothes. And that was, you know, back then how she got little extra spending money is she would make Barbie doll clothes, and so just like the quilting and the sewing, um, she made shirts for Joyce and I. Now in mind you, we did not look alike, but she would embroider our name underneath the collar. And so when we were in school, kids would come over and look under a collar to see which one we were. And I wish I had those some of those shirts and stuff left. We never, you know, I don't know what happened to them, but so probably just you know the hominess of like the quilts and the the sewing, and and uh she was um she was she was this like a sweet, sweet grandma. She made the best sugar cookies, and so just all that homey, you know, hominess stuff that we that you have when you're growing up.
SPEAKER_02What's something you've always wished you did but never got around to doing?
SPEAKER_00I don't know if there is anything. Um I've been you know super fortunate to be able to do like some traveling, whether it's with family or with friends. Um I don't know. I don't can't really think of anything that I'm just like uh right offhand.
SPEAKER_03That's okay then.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, like I mean that's a pretty full light then. Yeah, you know. Yeah, yeah. If you could go back and give yourself a piece of advice, what would it be?
SPEAKER_00Oh, don't sweat the small stuff. My mom would always say, You're gonna laugh about this sometime, and I'd be like, oh, I really don't know, mom. I don't know if that's gonna work, but that is true. There's a lot of things you look back on and you're like, that really was not that important. I guess at that point it was, but yeah, don't sweat the small stuff. There's yeah.
SPEAKER_02What's what's one thing you would want people to remember about you when you're audio?
SPEAKER_00Ooh, just how much I love my family. Um, whether it's my kids, my husband, my brothers and sisters, just you know, my grandkids, just how much I love them.
unknownThat's awesome.
SPEAKER_00There's right, that's what that's what it's all about.
SPEAKER_02That's kind of what yeah, that is what that is the legacy that you that is what life is about.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, just how much I cherish and just how different they all are and how much I just and just how proud I am of all of them. You know, it's it's that is probably the best thing to watch. Like you said, watching them going out and becoming their own. You know, it's it's hard to watch when they struggle because we want you know, we all want everything to be the best for our kids, especially. Yes, you want to keep them safe, but just you know, watching them grow, watching them become the people that they're becoming and being so proud of them.
SPEAKER_02We're gonna go back. Because we're gonna what's one memory from childhood that you didn't realize was important until later in life, and then you can share any other memories. What's one memory, boy?
SPEAKER_00I really do not have one that all of a sudden is like um it's funny how the you know different things that you do think about, you know, from when you're growing up, or just how you know different things kind of affected you, but I just don't think of one that really nothing really comes to mind.
SPEAKER_02That's okay, that's okay. Any other memories that you want to share? Any other funny memories growing up with your siblings or uh your kids?
SPEAKER_00Not that I can think of. Um I touched on a lot of stuff. I don't know. It's life is life is good. Like, you know, it's there's a lot of a lot of times where life is tough, but then you know, you then it you grow into hopefully a more compassionate and better person because you know, really what else is there? But um, but life is good, you know. Life is it's just so good. You have to go out there and and you know, just make it good for yourself, but also make it good for others. That's kind of I think what we're all here for is to show compassion and kindness to everybody and and just make life, you know.
SPEAKER_03It does get better when you stop focusing on yourself.
SPEAKER_00It does, yeah. Yep. Yeah, it really does.
SPEAKER_02Well, thank you so much for doing it. It took us a little while to get started, but we got it done. We do.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Thank you for listening to today's episode of The Simple Lives We Live. I hope this story reminded you that everyday life holds beauty, meaning, and lessons worth sharing. If you enjoyed this conversation, please take a moment to follow the podcast and leave a review. It helps more people discover these stories. Do you know someone with a story worth telling? Reach out and let me know. I'd love to hear from you. You can connect with me on Instagram at the Simple Lives We Live. Until next time, may you find Joe and the Ordinary.